Captain America #32 [Spoilers]

As always, an excellent read. I've seen other reviews talking about how things seem to have been slowing down recently in this title, but I'm guessing that this is just set-up for the next more active sequence. I think it's inevitable, unless you're dealing strictly with stand-alone stories, that some issues will be more action-packed than others. I've lost no interest in this story, that's for sure.

I like Sharon's characterization thus far--somehow her internal struggle is made clear without the pages of angst and overkill you usually see in such cases. I also like how we're really not sure just how much control she has at this point--unlike Winter Soldier (who is still impulsive enough to take the shot at Faustus because it was there, rather than being willing to play along and wait for a better chance) she makes a real effort to conceal her mental processes from Faustus. In fact, I'm wondering now whether she has finally been able to break free to some extent--the last time you see her Faustus-created inner voice speak (the white-on-black caption boxes) is just before she tosses Winter Soldier out of the ship--she tells it to "Shut up" and it breaks off in mid-sentence. It doesn't show up again.

Black Widow and Falcon are, as usual, well done. Widow in particular is a joy to read.

Winter Soldier is as well; twice now he has gotten himself in perhaps more trouble than he should have because of his own impatience. It may be that this is situational; if he weren't so emotionally invested in this mission, he might be better able to look at things objectively--certainly when he was a Soviet agent he was able to keep his distance and wait for the moment. But maybe that's one of the differences between WS now and WS then? Maybe that's a skill (being able to keep personal concerns separate from the mission) he no longer has? I don't know. I do know that that sort of lack of control would be a liability in a Captain America.

Oh, and about Tony Stark, talking to the SHIELD scientist about the pregnancy test they found in Sharon's apartment, I had a thought. They are obviously looking at something to do with DNA on the screen, and the main screen in view appears to have info on Sharon's own DNA. The exchange between Stark and the scientist:

Stark: You've double- and triple-checked the results, professor?

Prof: Of course, Director Stark. It's a positive on both counts. That pregnancy test was just what it looked like...and forensics comfirmed there were no fingerprints on it but Agent 13's.

Now, what does that mean? Does "positive on both counts" just mean a positive pregnancy test and a positive ID on Sharon as the mom-to-be? Or are they able to tell who the father might be from the test? Seems a stretch, but then this is comic book science we're talking about here. IIRC from earlier issues in this run, SHIELD doesn't keep copies of Cap's DNA on file--when the Red Skull was killed, they had to bring him in personally to check against the body (because the Skull was in a Steve clone at the time). Of course that was Fury's SHIELD. Stark might well have the info.

So, the "positive" seems to refer to whatever seemed obvious but needed to be checked--but as for what that was, I guess we'll have to wait and see.